#whoops this got a little long

[irlkanamedate]

Man I love my partner so much. They bought me these from @potato-lord-but-not and augh.... the arthur doodle... hes going in my wallet.

Thanks J for making these and thanks to my lovely partner for buying these for me ♡

[sickosdotjpg]

honestly think one of the hottest things a person can do is sneeze into the cowl/collar of a turtleneck sweater or similar

[katoska]

Ok, I know shippers are having a ball with the "psychic link" line, but personally, I don't think it's needed to explain Betelgeuse's new smoopyness (+ I don't like magic-induced/fated love, but you do you).

My personal theory is that Lydia subconsciously hit "block" on him so she can pretend he's gone forever. This is imo substantiated by the fact that she can't/won't see Richard - who's body was never found, and whose death was thus deniable as long as she did not see his ghost - either.

And while Richard was ok with not being seen because he was the kind of chill guy who would be satisfied with seeing his family to make sure they were ok, Betelgeuse... is not that kind of guy.

Betelgeuse is a huge drama queen who wants ALL the attention. He wants acknowlegdement. He's the ghost with the most, and you better not forget it.

So, imagine how he must have felt the first time Lydia showed up in a house he'd been hired to haunt ...and did not acknowledge him. Did not see him, didn't seem to see the monster he turned into that still had his face, nothing stripey or funny or with any of that personal touch seemed to register. Flying books, rattling cutlery, cold spots, all that boring generic stuff she could see, but nothing Juice-y.

He'd get fucking obsessed with making her notice him.

Which would mean making sure that he's there the next time she investigates another haunting, or luring her in by making a house look spectacularly haunted (coming to see her mere presence as a reward for a job well done in the process). And maybe, anytime a client forgot to banish him (do they even all get told how to do that?), he might have, if he was close enough, managed to drop in on her outside work, try to catch her off-guard. Which would mean getting awareness of her personal problems, again, and feeling empathy for her, again.

Cause I think that's the main emotion he felt for her back when she was a weird and unusual, deeply lonely, overty suicidal teen. I believe that very creepy tone he used when talking about "Edgar Alan Poe's daughter" was there to mask the fact that he was feeling sorry for her and felt a kinship with her because his existence also sucked. Cause, like, he's got a reputation to uphold, he can't be seen caring about some Breather's feelings or be seen relating to them unironically.

Except in this movie, Betelgeuse seemed to be in a far better headspace (while Lydia very much was not), so when he realised he still cared about her feelings, he couldn't put it down to projection. He had to acknowledge that he'd become attached. I headcanon that he figured out just how attached he'd gotten shortly after she started seeing Rory, cause... ok, hands up: Who else here, when watching the movie, had the thought "Wow, Rory sucks! She'd have been better off with Betelgeuse." Like, idc if you ship Beetlebabes or not, it's just objectively true that Betelgeuse would be the better option (even if you only think that's because the bar's in hell). I think that same thought would have crossed B's mind, too, upon which he'd have his "Oh. Oh. Oh shit" moment. He later made sure that Lydia too would become aware just how goddamn shitty Rory was, and he technically did not need to do that because Lydia already did not want to marry Rory, but y'know, it'd make B look better in her eyes if he made her aware of and helped her dodge this particular bullet.

Though actually, maybe this had been strategically unwise. Only if Betelgeuse had really planned on coercing Lydia into marriage ofc, which I don't buy in the first place. But for argument's sake: If Betelgeuse hadn't given Rory that truth serum, Lydia could have used the demon deal as a non-confrontational escape from her engagement. Which would have made her less inclined to pull any tricks to get out of her marriage with B, because even if she escaped him there would still be Rory. Ok yeah, Rory eventually got eaten by a Sandworm, but B couldn't have predicted that. But, speaking as a Code 699 truther (tldr: B knew the contract would be voided but either hoped Lydia would marry him anyway, or the whole song and dance was just about him wanting to declare his feelings), he could have predicted his marriage contract being voided. Though personally, I have doubts that Astrid would have been as quick to speak up if Lydia hadn't broken up with Rory and Rory hadn't got eaten.

[blueberry-blast]

Post GrandFest, someone got a lil too silly & forgot their sunscreen in all the excitement

[youtube-fucker]

Howdy! The name's Leif. Welcome to the little master post for what I'll be sharing for the UtY Anniversary!

First off: What I'm doing. Well, it's really simple. The mod I've been making for the past half a year. What's its name? It… doesn't actually have on yet lol. Suggestions would be appreciated, the only idea I have is along the lines of "Monstrous Yellow" Anyways, what are the changes? Well time for the mod overview!

Overview: 5 humans have travelled to Mt. Ebott and gone missing, and now a sixth is on their way. However, unlike the humans before them, they… do not make it past the first room of the Ruins. Luckily (or unluckily depending on your actions), a monster by the name of Clover came by shortly after the human kicked the bucket and absorbed their SOUL! So now, you play as Clover as you… basically do the plot of UtY but as a monster now. That's it. Credit to @howolonomy for this silly little goober who has invaded my mind and will likely never leave. You have cursed me, friend. I do not mind this curse.

Mechanics: Pretty much the same as vanilla. You can FIGHT, ACT, use ITEMs, use MERCY, use MAGIC-wait, what? That's right, as a monster you can use magic (available in the ACT menu) depending on what soul you're using (more on that later)! Over the course of your journey you'll learn many new spells, some offensive and some defensive depending on how you cleared the area boss (Steamworks not included for this ending difference). You will start with one (technically two) spell in your repertoire, but quickly learn more. Another new mechanic is the SOUL SYSTEM, in which you can swap between human and monster to change a few things up. But if you can't use magic as a human, what's stopping you from just using the monster soul the whole time? Well, we're playing by Deltarune logic here: Only humans can ACT (though I may have one exception for… reasons), meaning you'll honestly be using the human soul most of the time. Don't worry though, swapping which soul you're using doesn't count as an action and go into the monster attacking phase. So swap as much as you want, there is literally no downside to it.

The human: As this is in the world of Undertale, a human soul is pretty important. So making Clover a monster requires some human to fill the void. And that's where this one comes in! What's their name? You don't get to know! They do have one, but the closest you'll get is the first letter. (If you are one of my few friends who knows their name, do not tell. For the bit.) (Wait, I can be a pronouns lawyer since this is technically my own character. The human uses they/them and they/them ONLY, no he's, no she's, none of that please. If you do not respect this, I will blow you up with my mind. One million billion times. I've already had someone use he/him for them. Do not be like that person.) If you're curious about their design, here it is:

This design was made by @hollowgears, I was perfectly fine with keeping them like vanilla Clover but just look at them. Adorable. This little fucker can and will violate the Geneva Conventions if given the chance. Love that for them. And if you want, here's the sprite.

All colors (except for the mask thing for Genocide, the outline, and the vest) were taken from the original drawing to keep it accurate. Ignore the patch on the vest in the first one, I was given a sketch and first and assumed colors and other choices. It shouldn't be there in the final product... I think. I gotta double check

Other changes: A few silly little gags due to the existence of another character to do narration, an entire new area accessable in a route it normally isn't, and an entirely new ending for Pacifist!

The actual showcase: I'll be showing off a new thing each day via prerecorded videos (obviously), and they will all be linked here. Ruins Snowdin Dunes Steamworks Neutral Genocide Hotland/New Home In addition to the videos, I'll also be answering the main prompt for the day there as well as giving a fun fact for the area if I have one (I will, in fact, have one for each day).

Questions: If you have any questions, then be warned that some stuff won't be answered. I'll answer clarifying questions like "Why did x say y?" or "How did x know y?" or "What happened during x?" as well as any Behind The Scenes stuff you may want to know and a few other stuff like how I personally view a few cutscenes (as in, how I imagine them going in-universe) or things about the human minus their name, of course (Please ask about them, I wanna talk about them. You can use whatever name for them you want, just make shit up. Only names off the table are Ut(Y)Dr Characters because that might get confusing). But other than that, keep it to yourselves and have theories. I wanna see how crazy they can be. I may also allow questions to the characters (I feel mostly Clover or the human will be asked to, but the others are up) if I'm feeling up to it. It'll be a roll of the die on if I answer it or not tbh. Just be sure to provide context on the route you want just so I can answer properly, I will be assuming New Pacifist if no context is given.

Credits: The two mentioned above (don't wanna double tag them) as well as @freemonngo for help with coding. Like the spell system for instance. I am too stupid for most coding.

[marclef]

SO @whereismyhat5678 THOUGHT YOU COULD DRAW MY BABY SO CUTE AND GET AWAY WITH IT HUH?!?

*SLAMS UNO REVERSE CARD DOWN ONTO TABLE*

WELL GUESS WHAT NOW YOU GET TO BE DRAWN CUTE!!!

HAHA GET BLASTED WITH MY FAKE PEPPINO/EYHM CANNON!!!!

........ eeeeeee this was a lot of fun to draw though i hope you like it!! and it only took me-

*glances down at iPad*

....... 👁👁 4 AND A HALF HOURS JESUS CHR-

[ikemenomegas]

in light of gojo's unsealing, ive thought about diff cute scenarios

gojo being the type of person to get his mate's phone and snap hundreds of pictures of his face

this would probably never happen given gojo's privacy when it comes to his marriage but in a different world i can see this happening Gojo naming his alpha as "mochi seller' on his phone and Itadori seeing the message pop out from the lock screen and accidentally somewhat outing gojo's rs when he asks him in front of the other students why the mochi seller sent an ily message

the tender moments where gojo lets his infinity down or lets his alpha inside his infinity and he gets to relish in the warmth of their skin

the sappy things gojo's alpha has to sometimes do whenever gojo gets too rowdy and they need to placate him for whatever reason (re: alpha reading a map together with nanami scenario)

gojo sending his alpha a picture of two rocks by the sidewalk with the caption: 'us'

gojo asking his alpha if they would still love him if he was a worm and the alpha saying: "no<33"

Awww! These were really cute anon! Very happy ending which I feel like we're going to need a lot of in the coming weeks...

(Also I ran with it but why is their name "mochi seller" haha)

[Ao3 link for those who prefer chapters]

⬖ Photomaton

"Device storage insufficient, please move or delete files to make room?" you read, nonplussed.

Nobara sighed. "Sensei, I showed you how to do that weeks ago."

"I did do it." You frowned, opening up your files. Why were there so many pictures...

Nobara rolled her eyes at you and beat a hasty retreat when your hand went to your mouth as your face went warm.

There were rows and rows of photos, none of which you had taken.

Most of them were selfies, but some of them were obviously the result of Satoru propping the phone up and attempting to pose for the camera.

He must have been swiping your phone every time you left it sitting out or went to sleep. He didn't rest much, but there were so many, more probably than you'd been able to take in the last five years.

There wasn't much thought for such things when you only saw one another a handful of days every month. The focus had gone to managing the present, not on taking pictures. You'd only really thought to regret it after that terrible Halloween, when you worried you'd never see him again.

Some of the photos framed Satoru inside one of your homes. Others were almost ugly shots, taken way too close, or blurred with motion artifact. There were pictures of him haloed in the night glow of streetlights or washed out in the halogen light of a konbini. There were those made grainy with low light and some that took your breath away because he was nice looking.

Furtively, you looked up but were alone and you silently thanked your student's exasperated impatience. A few of the photos showed just too much skin to be exactly proper.

You thumbed down. The pictures were a story all their own revealing some of what Satoru did when alone and you savored the honesty. You had to keep apart from one another for so long.

The last thing in the camera roll was a video.

It opened with the shuffling sounds and the wobbling display of someone walking. Satoru wound around furniture in the darkened interior of your apartment.

"I'm home. You're asleep right now," he said lowly, "probably won't be later. I don't know how most people can sleep so much." He spoke half to himself, the deep night laying over his words like velvet.

There was the sound of the door to the little balcony opening and then the faint tinkle of the glass bells hanging from the eaves.

"Must be nice," he mused, "you get to miss a lot."

The image on the screen steadied as he rested your phone on the rail. The familiar view of the city resolved as faint golden starbursts of light. The rustling of Satoru's clothing faded until all you could hear was the faint rush of night wind and his breathing.

The video went on for over a quarter of an hour. You scrolled your fingers across the screen. He didn't move, the picture stayed the same. You leaned against a wall and listened to the last few moments, your heartbeat low and slow, your breath in sync with his from some time both here and long ago.

Satoru spoke, amused over the night-sounds:

"Don't delete this. I'll know."

⬖ Daifuku

"Good job," Gojo congratulated his dust-stained students as the veil fell.

Maki and Toge glared while Yuuji gave him a tired thumbs up from where he was laying on the ground.

"Dinner is on me tonight." Gojo ignored their halfhearted grumbling. "Decide where you want to go."

He anticipated a larger than normal ding to his wallet, but they'd earned it (and it wasn't as though he couldn't afford it). Beating this curse was no minor feat and it had been a particularly crafty one, which was why Gojo had gone with them just in case.

The students made noises of acknowledgement with varying levels of anticipation, but to no one's surprise, Yuuji was the first to roll over and dig around for his phone.

He tapped the screen and groaned.

"Sensei, mine's dead. Can I use yours?"

Gojo unlocked it and passed it over without a thought. He wasn't particularly hungry, the kids could figure this out without his interference for once.

"Um, Gojo-sensei?"

"Hm?"

"Why is a "mochi seller" reminding you to stop at the pharmacy and sending you heart emojis?"

With uncanny synchrony, Maki and Toge's heads turned to look at their teacher.

The phone in Yuuji's hand buzzed faintly.

"I love you?" he read, sounding alarmed.

Toge's eyes went a bit wide but a grin that curled a bit too much at the edges and showed teeth took over Maki's face.

"Text back," she said, scrambling to her feet.

With all her quickness, she swooped in and snatched the phone when Yuuji hesitated.

The phone buzzed once more.

"I'll be home by 8:30, probably," she read.

Gojo took advantage of Maki's triumphant look to slip the device from her grip.

"I knew it!" she pointed at him. "I knew you were hiding something."

"Grown ups hide lots of things," he replied blithely. He was confident none of the students could tell that moment had been more like someone walking over his grave.

It was not as though he intended to hide his relationship with you. Hide implied shame, concealment on the other hand had been security and was harder to let go of. There would come a moment when the kids prised the truth from him. He was not about to have that moment with his kids now, or hopefully ever, because they accidentally read his texts out loud.

Maki reached for his phone and he easily tipped out of her way, walking off and heading towards a neighborhood he knew (and the students did not) had a lot of very good restaurants.

He was silently very thankful when the implied threat of no food at all distracted the students. Or at least had Yuuji barreling past Maki and kindly dropping the matter in favor of promising to "only look at the map this time, was there a good katsudon place nearby?"

⬖ Goose Down

Satoru spotted you hunched over a rail with your umbrella open overhead, held in the crook of your elbow.

He could tell from the set of your shoulders that the summer sun was getting to you, despite the cursed tool taking a majority of the pressure off.

Your energy was butter yellow and burnt red and lithium pink, mixing slowly around your body as you slowly cycled power into the umbrella and the short sword held loosely in your hands.

Satoru ducked around a corner and took a peak at your face. Your eyes were closed.

Smirking quietly to himself, he crept around, Infinity a barrier between himself and the world. For just a little longer...

You jumped when he dropped it, nearly dropping your sword and automatically holding the umbrella high enough for him to fit under it.

"Hah-"

"Speechless?"

You gaped at him, mouth hanging open.

He nodded as if you'd just confirmed it. "This is what they don't tell you about marriage. Making someone's heart race is important even after the wedding. We'll probably be together forever at this rate."

You mouth closed and then went a little wobbly.

"It's hot," you finally said, miserably. "And it's too sunny."

He couldn't hold back his laughter as he stepped closer and folded himself around you. Your scent tingled pleasantly in his nose and your skin was warm from both heat and light, like a sun-warmed blanket.

"Oh," you said faintly, "you're cool," and you all but melted against him.

"You could just go inside," Satoru said. "I sent the students off on an adventure. We wouldn't be bothered."

"That sounds nice," you murmured, but didn't make any move away from him.

He didn't either. He didn't feel much like letting go yet.

⬖ Orange Kazoo

Sometimes, you reminded yourself through your already strained patience, Satoru just needed to be left alone to make noise.

For a moment, you considered begging him for just a little peace, but you knew he was doing this for your benefit. Shibata Kin was a difficult pill to swallow.

"I never expected anyone to send Six Eyes to join us."

It was the weakest and most recent of Shibata's barbs. The oily way he said it and the implication that anyone would dare to subordinate Satoru to this boot licker rankled.

Satoru crinkled the package extra loud on a bit of melon bread and smiled. "I was in the neighborhood."

He took a bite, chewed and swallowed while you flipped through the mission report on a clipboard.

You sighed, exhaling your worry, and handed it back. "Let's go then. It looks like all the victims disappeared from the same place so we should start there."

That place was a building that straddled a moderately busy subway station and stacked part of a shopping mall, a cluster of private clinics, and a cram school all on top of each other.

Satoru trailed behind through the store, stopping at kiosks and chatting with saleswomen, picking up and putting down objects.

You could feel Shibata's irritation transform into something far less internal as he turned to you.

"He's like a child," he remarked coolly. "Sure we shouldn't just ditch him? The curse doesn't sound that hard to deal with since I've got you."

When you ignored him, he kept talking.

"He shouldn't even be here," the man drawled.

You shrugged. "Well he is."

Shibata sourly appeared to swallow whatever else he wanted to say. You turned around to see where Satoru had gone to. The thought of being stuck with the bitter other sorcerer was worse than waiting for them to pick their bickering back up.

He waved a stuffed cat in sunglasses at you and nodded eager agreement when you pointed out a cute little sparrow holding an umbrella on a shelf behind him. Sometimes, it was best to just humor Satoru and play along.

When you turned back, Shibata Kin was gone.

Since you were all concealing your residuals from the curse you expected was in the building, you had no idea where he went.

You looked over your shoulder. Satoru was gone too.

Well.

You tapped your fingers over your pocket and then decided to let them go. Satoru always seemed to know where to find you and Shibata had called you here as backup. You should probably go kill what you were looking for before it nibbled on him.

Many fewer curses than you expected lingered in the shopping mall. They were bizarre places with as many secret passageways as an ancient castle. Away from the popular shops and crowds, it quickly grew quiet and the bright gleam of displays gave way to more neglected halls.

On your way, you passed a small bank of capsule machines. You crouched down, and smiled faintly to yourself. Abandoned in the furthest reach of the shopping mall, almost near to where a service entrance lead to another stretch of winding halls and tunnels, the items here were both ancient (by city standards) and ridiculous.

Packages of candy that still held their shine but were likely far past their expiration date sat beside tiny figurines of a frog-shaped toddler in a little red hat. You grimaced back at those and moved on.

Near the end of the row was a machine that sold tiny musical instruments, plastic and paper and probably terrible sounding, but it wasn't expired food or frog children. You stuck a few coins into the slot and turned the dial.

An acid green ball spat out from the slot.

You picked at the latches on its side while you found your way further and further into the little used corridors.

There was a flash of something, like a burst of camera illumination from behind a door on your right.

You slipped through it, pulling your blade free from its sheath at the small of your back, and emerged into a tunnel that looked to be connecting to the nearby subway station. Not far ahead, the darkened path split into two.

You flipped the sword around so its blunt edge rested against your forearm and sprinted, dashing across the intersection.

A blur of motion came at you. As it grazed by, you snatched at that movement and sprang into the air, high enough to crouch on the ceiling of the tunnel.

The curse was a near perfect twin of the one a little ways down the way the attack had come, which should have maybe been your first hint. The one that had come at you was grinning, its face a rictus mockery of a theater mask.

They both sat, crouched like toads. You feinted toward the one that had come towards you, and at the last minute flew down to the other, its mouth bent in a painted looking frown.

It backed up in surprise, but not far enough and your blade nicked through the face, which was hard like dense wood. The air around your other hand shimmered in heat, as you struck for the thing's cavernous eyes.

It emitted a furious, scolding gurgle that almost reminded you of some of the window teachers from high school, and swallowed the burst of heat before it could crackled around it into full flame.

You hardly had time to reinforce your body with cursed energy before you were blasted from two directions, letting the momentum carry you and trying to wrap the more opposing forces and the roaring sound of displaced air into your own cursed energy. But something about it resisted you, and you were unable to absorb as much of the attack as you usually would.

A racking shiver radiated through your body right before you were caught by a broad hand on your back.

"Hi," Satoru said sweetly.

"Hi," you panted, automatic, eyes still fixed on the curse.

"What's going on?"

You looked up at him with incredulity.

Hoisted in his other arm was the limp body of your other companion.

Satoru's head cocked to the side, curious as he looked at the curse.

"I don't know yet. I hit it and then--" the mask of the frowning curse was ash blasted and the notch from your first strike still there, but it was not as damaged as expected.

You regained your footing and stood upright.

"If I give it another go I think I can figure it out."

He tilted his head.

You sized up the two curses waiting outside the reach of Satoru's infinity.

"Oh." You reached into your pocket and handed him the green orb.

"What's this?"

"Dunno," you said with a faint smile. "I got it for you."

"Aww, you shouldn't have."

Maybe not. Satoru thinks gachapon are funny, you should show him the line of machines if you get out of here the same way you come in, then he can choose something himself. You still have a few coins on you.

You flew at the grinning curse, both hands on the hilt of your blade, cursed energy flashing into a point a good six inches out from where the metal itself ended.

You held, crystalizing your own movement for a moment and stared deep into the thing's empty eyes.

It twitched, and then its arm moved and you slashed downward, intending to cleave the limb away.

The blade hit, you knew it did. You were able to dodge the attack you anticipated from the smiling curse. The frowning curse in front of you struck back, almost at the same time.

You pulled on some of the reserved momentum you'd held back in your initial strike and barely twisted out of the way.

You lifted the gleeful cackles of the twinned curses from the air and tried to twist them into a crackling rope of flame to surround the grinning one again. As you had expected, the damage did not seem to completely take and you were forced to duck when a bolt of heat tried to sear your back, culminating in another blast that shook the tunnel and thew you once more.

"That's enough."

Satoru appeared at your side again, pulling you back behind the shield of his power when the curse's retaliation threatened to cut through you.

"This one's a bad match for your technique," he murmured thoughtfully.

"Is it reflecting through the faces?" you asked, catching your breath.

He hummed.

Absently, you realized you could scent the sharp, fresh smell of citrus on his breath - the smell of the biting orange flavored candy you'd shared with him on the train ride here.

"If it reflects yours too--" you trailed off. What you did was firmly in the realm of the "real" and Satoru's abilities were not. If this curse were to reflect back blue, or red, or heaven forbid purple... well you'd never seen or asked up until if Satoru could stop his own techniques. It seemed a tactical oversight in this moment.

Satoru stepped forward.

"Stabilize him," he instructed flatly. He'd tossed Shibata Kin's still body where he had been standing barely a minute before.

The curses had moved closer and pressed together, beginning to meld into one another before your eyes. The damage you had already done was fading further.

You knelt at Shibata's side, shaking back your sleeves. "You know this is going to poison him."

You carefully set two fingers underneath his right collarbone, and three a few ribs below his heart on the left and focused in on the flickers of electricity that powered a human body.

"Oh well." Satoru's grin was a baring of teeth. "He'll get over it better than being dead."

You could sense the arrhythmic flutter of Kin's heart, like the popping scatter of an overloaded lamp, like a fractured version of that flash you had sensed earlier.

"You know he was trying to set you up right?" Satoru asked as he batted away an experimental chunk of rubble the curse tossed his way with a flick of his wrist. The stone was aimed right for the face of the smiling curse and even as it hit, it seemed to bounce back, hitting Satoru's shield and falling to the ground.

You sparked a bit of your energy to pure electricity, sending it jumping from one side of Shibata Kin's chest to the other.

"It crossed my mind," you admitted, murmuring as you concentrated. "But I didn't pursue the thought."

Satoru snorted. Yes, alright it was more likely you'd decided thinking about it too hard was going to distract you from the mission but you were here anyway.

You counted the pulse of electricity between your fingers to your own heartbeat until Kin's matched, or at least matched better than before.

When you pulled your hands away, Satoru cracked his knuckles. It looked like he was going to go in for physical attacks.

"You might need to manage the tunnel," he said.

Yet another reason this was a bad match up, not just for you but for him. Satoru did best in wide open spaces where he had room to move and didn't need to worry too much about collateral damage. Dropping a ton of rock on your heads and collapsing the buildings above sounded like a thing that could happen.

You had barely pressed your hands to the ground when Satoru was off like a shot.

The curse wasn't that strong - a high end second grade or low level first grade at best given that it wasn't itself attacking to provoke a response - but it split into those two halves of itself and reformed again as needed to minimize the impacts Satoru rained upon it or flank him.

Limitless lay against his skin between each strike so he remained unmarked, but the cavernous space still rocked with noise and dust shook from the gaps between tiles. You steadied it best you could, absorbing the oscillations and dampening the noise.

It did not take long for the frowning curse to realize what you were doing and send the smiling one racing for you. With one hand on the ground and one on your sword, brimming with unspent potential, you raised the point.

"Nah ah." This seemed at once to you and the monster charging your way. Satoru appeared in its path and bodily kicked it away.

It did not take long after for the twinned curses to be dispatched. Although the only reason you weren't holding your breath is because you were gritting your teeth with the effort of holding the ground together and trying not to shake apart yourself.

Satoru in motion, in a fight, particularly when physical constraint demanded more of his ingenuity, was always a sight to behold.

He came back to you looking unfairly dewy post exertion, with his hair in a sort of windswept disarray, the fabric around his shoulders bunched up. He shrugged out the wrinkles and dusted off his hands.

Your briefly pressed a hand to his knee after you steadied the last tremor from the ground.

"Thank you."

Satoru tapped his forefinger twice against your temple as he walked by. "A feedback loop between you and that thing would have been very messy."

You stood up, swaying slightly.

Even though Satoru would have happily dragged Shibata to the exit point, you insisted on tugging him upright and at least moving him through the air to a place where the three of you could safely rest and call a car.

You had settled him against a wall and were calling Akari when he finally stirred.

"What happened?" Shibata asked weakly.

You turned around to look at him and from Shibata Kin's tepid expression and the sound of shifting cloth behind you, you assumed Satoru must have copied your movement.

Still, you gave him a faint smile and couched down beside him. He didn't have the strength to move away as you grabbed his wrist and felt his pulse. It was thready, but he'd be good enough to get the rest of the way above ground until an actual doctor could take a look at hime.

"We're all alive," you explained unnecessarily.

Shibata Kin's eyes moved from your face to over your shoulder. Sweat beaded his brow and upper lip.

From behind you came a buzzing hum, somewhat approximating a sad tuba. Waa wa wa waaaaaaaa, it trailed off.

Satoru had a the wide end of a grape purple kazoo held between his teeth, his sunglasses already exchanged for the bandages he'd had wrapped around his eyes.

Only just in time, you ducked your face into your shoulder and hid a smile.

⬖ Pet rock

You were walking down some quiet residential street, trying to match the map to the trail of the curse you were tracking. It was not very intelligent, but it had a pernicious little ability to draw other curses to it under the banner of a powerful command. You'd been swatting third and fourth grades out of the air as you chased it, trying to wear down its arsenal.

It wasn't a terribly good strategy however and the thing had been winding its way through side streets to buy time. If you could get in closer, you could chop away at more of its train of screaming fears, maybe get a head start on the main peril. Thus the attempt at navigating and figuring out its destination so you could cut it off.

At least Hirano-san would be happy. Maybe. Culling curses required balance; they were their own little ecosystem. As long as the things aren't eating anyone, a certain amount of apex predators in an area could be a deterrent, like the old practice of putting powerful relics out like roach traps. Have the inevitable critters fight and eat one another rather than their human hosts.

A notification popped up over the map, and then another after it.

You felt your shoulders drop as you recentered yourself with a faint smile.

At your hotel later that night, you recalled that Satoru had sent you a message. You fell onto the bed, wrapped up in the hotel bathrobe.

It was... nice, knowing that someone was waiting at home for you. Or if not at home, he was still busy as ever, out there in the world somewhere, thinking of you. Weirdly normal.

The message was a picture. You blinked up at it. Two little rocks and a flower growing out of a crack in the pavement to shade over them.

>> ?

Almost immediately you saw three dots appear.

<< it's us!

Is it? you thought skeptically, looking at the picture again.

The dots again.

<< You don't think so :(?

Your phone was buzzing in your hand before you had even a moment to answer.

It startled you enough to drop the phone.

Owww

"You took so long to answer. This is photography, are you discouraging my new passion? It could go on a greeting card."

The word salad was meaningless and silly, weightless.

"I dropped you on my nose," you said, eyes closed as you rubbed the spot the corner of your case had hit.

"Were you that surprised by it?"

A pause.

"It's cute." The notion of it and the fact that he'd sent it to you was cute.

"It is cute right?" His voice was bright but not overly loud through the phone, for which you were grateful, already settling into warmth. "The flower is poisonous too."

You curled up on your side and held the phone close. Maybe he'd get lucky and you would find something cute to send back to him.

⬖ Puddle jumping

a/n: You have no idea how much googling I had to do to figure out what the prompt meant. I am not on the tick-tock app lol or, I've found, a fan of this meme... the implication that girlfriends ask useless questions as a rule seems sort of meh. So I mostly kept to my original response to this which was "i don't know what that is and honestly probably neither does alpha"

Satoru was herding you down the sidewalk, occasionally listing one way or the other to get you out of the way of other pedestrians. Sometimes he did it for the simple fascination of how you swayed along by him like you were on a tether. Even while you eyes were all but fixed skyward, you stayed roughly the same distance from him.

It was the first day of sun after days of rain and also one of the first days he had off with you in so many apart. He had been too restless the day before, back off a bad mission that had more to do with the desperate unpredictability of people than the intrinsic darkness of curses. You had not resisted him when he drew you out, stifled by the low clouds and humidity and longing for openness. Even with Infinity blocking the rain, it had felt like being closed in again.

Relieved of their burden, the clouds had gone from iron grey to diaphanous white and pealed up and away in swaths like billowing curtains. This is what you were watching - their retreat from the earth. They had come so low they wrapped around skyscrapers and telephone poles on their back to their usual place.

Satoru watched the drowned earth. You had cut through a tree lined walk. The rich soil was churned and muddy and the long bodies of worms that had been washed out or crawled up were strewn about.

Your and Satoru's steps made no mark as he stretched Infinity over and around the two of you. Neither of you tread upon those blind, waterlogged creatures.

Satoru stepped behind you to allow a cluster of high schoolers to pass and hid a faint wrinkle of his nose as they squealed and ran by, realizing they were stepping on some of the remains.

Your umbrella was folded and carried at your side, and you tilted your head back at him, looking a little sun-drunk. He smiled at you. He could see the reflection of the sky in your gaze.

He adopted a pout, snickering internally as you immediately seemed to regain some awareness and a wary anticipation entered your expression.

"Would you still like me if I was a worm?" he asked.

You blinked at him. "Is this one of those things you learned from the kids?"

He slouched a bit, crowding into your space. "Would you still love me if I was a worm," he wheedled.

"Are you turning into a worm?" you asked, slightly panicked, hand going to his arm as though to check if he was going as wet and floppy as the poor things on the ground.

"I'm going to turn into one if you don't answer my question."

The last of the distracted fog lifted from your eyes as you shook yourself. You took his hand and pulled him close to let another couple pass you on the walk. They inclined their head in thanks.

There was no rush to get where you were going and you tugged him along a smaller path that cut under a row of thick-branched trees so you could walk side by side unimpeded.

"I still liked you when you were a semi-sentient six sided die," you pointed out, smiling slightly.

"It's not the same," he whined a bit, drawing out the words in a sing-song fashion.

"Isn't it? I'm not sure a die eight kilometers under the ocean is more useful than a worm."

"Hmph."

"Although I really hope the worm thing is hypothetical."

"Why?"

"Because with our luck that would mean I'm a worm too."

Satoru huffed a faint sound of amusement. "Nooo. You'd still be some kind of bird." He patted your back. "Don't worry I'll make sure to crawl out late so you can still be in time to eat me all up."

"... Are you propositioning me or telling me to hurry up?"

"Walk faster or I'll step on the backs of your shoes."

You did. The two of you walked faster and faster until you were all but chasing one another out of the park, laughing lightly as you dodged the spots of wet on the ground.

[littencloud9]

Kunichuuzai + "Stop treating me like an accessory!"

anon i hope you know (and i mean this very lightheartedly) that i stared at this for a full 5 mins trying to figure out how i can fluff my way out of this one. but alas. you win. have some knchz angst </3

"Stop treating me like an accessory!" Dazai snaps. Kunikida stills, his hand frozen from where he was tucking a tuft of hair behind Dazai's ear. His heart drops at the sudden aggressive outburst. Dazai has been quiet since they started getting ready for the party together, and this is the first thing he's said in an hour. Chuuya steps in between them, forcing Kunikida to take a step back. "Don't say that, idiot. Put this damn tie on." "Chuuya—" Kunikida begins, but he's silenced by a look. Not exactly a mean one, just one that says I've got this. They force Dazai to sit on the bed, pulling the tie around his neck and beginning to tie it together. They don't say anything as they work, other than to hum to the song playing from their phone. Kunikida watches, helplessness clawing at his heart, but he obeys Chuuya's instruction and stays out of it for now. "There," Chuuya says once they're done. Dazai looks up at them with a faraway look in his eyes, and there's a familiar darkness in that empty gaze. "Stop thinking so hard. Whatever it is, it's not true." "...You prefer me like this," Dazai mumbles. It's uncertain who he's talking to. "Don't you?" Hesitantly, Kunikida joins him on the bed, the mattress dipping under his weight. Chuuya stands in front of them with their arms crossed, a frown on their face. "What do you mean?" Dazai scoffs. He gestures to his hair, then to his clothes, then finally to his tie. "Presentable." Silence ensues. Kunikida and Chuuya share a glance. "You both know this isn't who I am," Dazai continues, his voice bitter. "And you can't change that. No matter how hard you doll me up, I'm always going to be—" "Oh, shut up with that bullshit," Chuuya interrupts. They sigh, tilting Dazai's chin up with a finger, forcing them to make eye-contact. "You're not our accessory. I've got more expensive taste than that." "That's horrible," Kunikida grumbles, wincing. He places a hand on Dazai's knee. Dazai flinches at the first touch, but he relaxes almost immediately after. "I... It's weird. I look so nice on the outside, but the inside..." Dazai trails off, tearing his gaze away from Chuuya. "I feel like a fraud." Kunikida takes a deep breath. "Dazai, I— we chose you for who you are." "It's ugly." "We all are," Kunikida says. It comes out a bit blunt, and it's Chuuya's turn to give him a wince. "But love can't exist without the ugly. And, for the record, I think you're beautiful. Inside and out." Dazai's lips press together. Kunikida drops him a kiss on his forehead, pushing his bangs aside. "You don't have to agree. I know it's hard." Chuuya finally joins them on the bed, sitting on Dazai's other side. They don't say anything, but they lean into him slightly, providing a comforting weight. "Okay," Dazai whispers. It's not acceptance, but it's not rejection either. And that's good enough for them all.

[the-insouciant-scientist]

what are hyakinthos's thoughts on the boatman and the slow boat in general?

Ooh, taking a quick sidestep from the rest of the ask game asks to answer this real quick! Short answer: a little complicated but generally friendly! Long answer: Gotta give some backstory first, bear with me. I have been thinking so much about belief systems vs established canon. Canon says that every human who dies regardless of belief (there may be nuance I'm forgetting but I'm in full speed infodump mode rn so that's a problem for future me) goes to the Far Shore. I say that's... kinda bleak? Also I'm just not a fan of stories where there is only One Real Belief and the rest are played off as silly distraction or whatever, but I digress.

A lot of his everything is based around the idea that both belief and proper death/burial care are important to get people to the afterlife they're meant to be in. Ritual makes all the difference between going to the Far Shore vs the Fields of Asphodel, for example.

His Boatman is Charon, or at least accepts the name. Hyakinthos has a working relationship with him and has probably taken up the oars at least a few times, especially for people who need the extra care in getting to where they need to be.

There's respect there, but there's also a certain... I'm not sure I have the words for it. The idea that death in the Neath is uncertain in so many ways (whether it'll stick that time, whether the person will make it to their afterlife or if they'll slip between the cracks and end up in the wrong place, etc) can be... discomfiting, to him. So while he does hold the boatman in high regard, there's always some little uncertainty there.

(Every so often, by their standards at least, Hyakinthos will bring him a very old obol. The Boatman will always refuse it. This is a ritual of its own. They'll sit for a while and talk anyways, and then part ways afterwards a little lighter.)

[bigfootsmom]

fuck it friday

I was tagged by the lovely and talented @devirnis, @alyxmastershipper, @honestlydarkprincess, @disasterbuckdiaz <3 <3 <3

Here's some more from the buck is trapped in an elevator fic:

“Hey, man— can we help you?” Eddie asks.  Bennett’s eyes rove over the room like he’s looking for something before they focus on Eddie. “Hey, sorry— Diaz, right? I’m, uh— I’m Bennett. I’m filling in at the 118 right now. I’m just looking for Buckley. Is he still here or did he head back down already?”  “Buck is here?” Chimney pipes up from the bed, pushing himself up straighter with a wince.  Eddie echoes the sentiment, feeling himself perk up at the thought of Buck being nearby. He tries to look past Bennett and into the hall like Buck will somehow appear right behind him.  Hen looks around the room like she’s also waiting for Buck to pop up from behind a piece of furniture. “We haven’t seen Buck— he hasn’t been here at all.”  Bennett falters, tapping a finger against his radio. “What? That’s— I sent him up here at least fifteen minutes ago.”  “You sure he didn’t wander off to the cafeteria or something?” Chimney asks, a smile tugging on his lips.  Bennett shakes his head, “No, he knew he only had a few minutes to come say ‘hi’ to you guys. I don’t think he’d waste time going anywhere else.”  Something akin to anxiety wheedles its way under Eddie’s skin as he asks “Did you try his radio yet?”  “I tried, but he didn’t answer me.”  Eddie frowns, that’s not like Buck at all to ignore his radio. “Can you try again?” It’s phrased like a question but Eddie isn’t asking.  It feels like every occupant in the room is holding their breath as Bennet reaches up to key his radio on. “Firefighter Buckley, what is your location?”  Static hisses through the radio.  “Firefighter Buckley, respond.”  Static.

I'm tagging @naydran, @swiftietartt, @morganofthefairies, @lovebuck, @princessfbi, @homerforsure, @miserykites, @paranoidbean, @mysteriouslyyounggalaxy, @shortsighted-owl, @housewifebuck, @loserdiaz, @monsterrae1, @try-set-me-on-fire and anyone else who wants to post something! (sorry if you were already tagged or if I missed anyone)

[outeremissary]

🧣(scarf), 🎈 (balloon) and 🥩 (steak) for ocs of your choice?

Thank you for the ask and in a BIG way for the patience :') I tried to keep this to characters from stuff I was reeeelatively sure was familiar, but I confess the last question really made me want to talk about my Dark Urge from Gate 3, so I hope that's okay ^^;; If not, the first two are all Pathfinder, promise!

(this has been placed under a cut due to length)

[prompt list]

🧣(scarf) - What comforts your oc? Is it an item? An action? A person? Whatever it is, how any why does it comfort them?

Carmen finds a lot of comfort in her mount, June. June has been with her for around five years by the time of Kenabres and she feels a strong connection to the mare. June has certainly had a more constant presence in her life than many people. She finds June's presence soothing- it's good to have a familiar creature around as an anchor. The predictability (to her) of June's temperament and the steady routine of her care make for a series of daily rituals that give her life structure and certainty even as she moves between places marked by strife and upheaval. And she's always loved animals. It's nice to just… have one around. Someone to spend quiet time with who's less complicated than a human. She always tries to carve out that time, whether it's to ride her or groom her or just to sit nearby and read through something while June quietly grazes on her lead. It keeps Carmen grounded, makes her feel sane.

Lately, though, there's a different ritual that lends a similar- perhaps sharper- clarity of mind. Her quarters in Drezen were appointed with a full length mirror when she settled into them (excessive for her needs- something smaller to check her face and pull back her hair would have been enough), and more and more she finds herself spending time contemplating it, letting herself be drawn into its depths. Other reflective surface capture her eye as well, but most have mere echoes of the depth she sees in the mirror in her room. She's never been one for vanity, but something about it helps her focus. Empties out the stress. Drains away all those pesky feelings and small, buzzing thoughts. She's not looking at anything in particular in it. She sees herself. There's nothing special about the mirror or what's in it, that empty eyed thing. It just helps her concentrate, that's all.

🎈 (balloon) - What does your character do at parties? Are they a wallflower or a party animal? Do they go with friends or alone?

Balthazar has been to more parties than he cares to count, and at one point in his life it was an almost nightly part of his lifestyle. He prefers to show up with friends (it helps that friends are how he normally got in), and he's good at matching the mood of any given gathering. He likes to talk with people, to get a feel for the room by adding himself to conversations and learning the people in them. He always has something to say about the topic at hand- even if he's never heard of it before- and has a talent for coming off clever even when he's clueless. He's the friend of a friend for gossip, the devil's advocate in a debate, the charming stranger with a touch of scandalous worldliness at an upper class ball. Big gatherings are a great chance to make connections, so keeping social is essential- as is entertaining whoever invited him with his company.

He enjoys drinking socially, and he's usually drinking at parties- depending on the gathering, sometimes a lot, and sometimes enough to reach the edge of his normal control. It feels fun and wild sometimes, and people seem to love it. And when it wasn't drinks that were the focus of the party, well, he wasn't afraid of experimenting. It's all fun when everyone's doing it. And the extra energy is welcome late at night. He's also fond of partaking in games when available and is probably very familiar with Absalom's most popular dice games and card games- though he's not fond of playing with his own money. Dancing is something he enjoys as well (and central to a lot of parties and events he's been at!). There's a delight to passing between partners and knowing them that way, to playing the game of leading and following. He's a fairly good dancer despite not having any formal training; it's just years of experience at work. A lot of the time his party experience was also one that involved hookups (if whoever brought him wasn't already expecting his company). It's just another kind of social fun when you're out meeting people.

I guess you could call him a party animal: he was never one to hang back and disappear, and he knew how to command attention when he wanted it (and how to keep moving with it even when he didn't). There aren't a lot of gatherings in the River Kingdoms where it's really possible or desirable to run wild though, especially with his new status. Most of his recent attendances have run towards the more restrained edge of things, although every so often there will be a small gathering of friends that recaptures a bit of that old spirit. And of course there was Rushlight, but he tries not to think about Rushlight.

🥩 (steak) - Does your oc have any coping mechanisms? Healthy or unhealthy?

(CW FOR DISCUSSIONS OF SELF HARM ON THIS ONE)

Kasander has long had trouble with self-harm. Being raised in a tightly controlled environment without reliable emotional support where they generally weren't allowed privacy, freedom of movement, or possessions of their own, they had few outlets for distress that didn't feel markedly dangerous. Making that distress into something physical made it easier to cope with, easier to hide. It was a quick, reliable release that let them go back to "normal" quickly. It's also something they aren't always aware of doing until after the fact- the feeling of distress is also dangerous, and so is thinking about how to handle it. It falls to someone else inside to process when it becomes intense. This is something so deeply ingrained that it can be hard for them to gauge their distress levels, because on some level it always feels like a foreign emotion and it doesn't feel "right" to concentrate on and work through. This behavior was never monitored or discouraged by any caretakers who were aware of it besides some light shaming. It was disgraceful to direct that violence towards themself instead of outwards at others, but so long as they were containing it, keeping it out of the public eye, and not allowing it to affect their performance, what did it matter? On a related note, most of their scars are from before the age of twelve- there's a long gap between that and twenty-seven where any new scars they developed were the result of self-harm.

Recently they've been developing some other ways of coping with overwhelming emotion that feed less into a cycle of shame and secrecy. They've begun to learn the lyre and to sing- they don't consider themself an especially gifted performer, but it's something to focus on and do with their hands. There's a meditative edge that music has for them, especially alone. It's good for settling and centering. Makes them feel like they can put something good into the world. They're also developing a better sense of themself internally. They try to journal to keep track of their thoughts and feelings, and it lets them interact with the parts of themself they normally struggle to access. It creates cohesion (and this time without the interference Asperia experienced when they used to dictate their journal entries to their butler). Knowing the others inside also lets them sometimes find feelings more easily- to stop and look inside and ask "where does this come from? whose feeling is this? how big is it?" It's hard to break down the barriers that cause those things to slip away and make it difficult to access the others, but it's getting better. And the sense of being able to communicate clearly and immediately with Asperia or the others makes it feel easier to control a situation.

And lastly, they have people they can talk to. It's still hard as hell to trust that others are safe with their most intimate, vulnerable moments, but they're getting there slowly. It's helped to be able to identify who they can rely on to talk about what- for example, they care dearly about Astarion as a friend and trust him to understand or at least listen to some aspects of themselves without knee jerk judgment, but they also know that he can be flippant, insensitive, and intensely self-protective, and turning to him could still cuase them to spiral, even if it may not be as fast or deep as with some others. On the other hand, they trust Jaheira unconditionally, even if there are things that sometimes they feel too protective of or scared to externalize to share with her or days it's not possible to reach for aid. They know that she'll take them seriously if they confide in her, but that she won't panic and she'll always find a way to keep things light enough to handle. She has a keen enough eye for them to recognize when they struggle, but she also respects their space, gives them time, doesn't push. She's one of the few people it's possible to be open with about the fact that "Kasander" isn't always Kasander. She's someone that sometimes they're open with in retrospect about switching or the others are open with in the moment (and it helps that Jaheira isn't a stranger to a range of behaviors in her own children across all different ages- things like Asperia's willful antagonism don't throw her off). They're grateful constantly to have her in their life, and her presence has felt life-saving at a time when they needed that safety to heal. Being able to travel with her after the resolution of the Absolute crisis brings them a lot of joy and hope.

I guess since it also didn't wind up in the body it'll be awkwardly appended at the end... The mistake of focusing on the healthy/unhealthy dichotomy is that it made it so something important that was referenced a lot didnt have a clear place to go since it wasn't really in that binary ^^;; In a way everything that "Kasander" is has been an adaptation to the need to constantly cope with overwhelming circumstances. They have a dissociative condition, and existing in a way that made it possible to separate parts of themself out to make life manageable is how they've survived as long as they have. On some level, dissociation is always a part of how they process situations. Kasander also wasn't originally the host of their system- their original role was to give Asperia a way to resist his circumstances either by escaping them temporarily or defending himself against things that were "untouchable" somehow.

[valiant-portabella-pirkko]

for the asura ask game: 2, 3 & 5 for Ruju

Just an asura ask game

Thanks for the ask!! Cracks my fingers... You really went right for the messy ones there. Time to free more Rat Lore, but this time Familial Drama Edition! (You know the drill, under the cut it goes!)

2. Where were they born? Did they like the place? Did they grow up there or did they move away at some point? Do they wish things went differently?

Ruju's youngest years were spent out in a small settlement around Mount Maelstrom, not too far from the Crucible of Eternity. It was mostly populated by other Inquest personnel who, like his mother, were just living nearby to maintain an easier commute-- and some of them had progeny of their own, too. They didn't exactly get along.

(That was how he earned his distinctive gold false tooth.)

Ruju hated everything about the place; the surroundings were dangerous so he couldn't go anywhere, the other kids were jerks, the adults always acted so weird about him like they thought one wrong move might get them chucked into the volcano(because it very well might), and that wasn't even mentioning the facility itself. He might've been young but he certainly wasn't stupid; whatever was going on in that place raised every hair on the back of his neck. To him the only good thing about it was Sylffa, a progeny of one of the few resident asura who WEREN'T working at the Inquest facility.

And then the home lab accident happened, and Ruju's parents decided maybe mixing home life and work wasn't such a great idea.

After that his father brought him to Rata Sum and he saw them both a lot less from then on. They still came by each evening, but he mostly relied on the household golems if he needed anything; their ambition had always come first and that wasn't about to change anytime soon. That almost felt like a blessing, though.

Looking back, he wishes he'd just ran away from it all sooner.

3. What's their family like? Are they still around? Do they like them and get along? Are there any expectations coming from them?

WHEW BOY. Ruju's family life was... Not great! Here's some mockups of his parents to start; Klixx on the left, Kroma on the right.

Both of his parents were hardcore Inquest, and neither of them were particularly pleasant people. His mother Kroma was a researcher who largely specialized in the study and manipulation of magical energies, and was an elementalist like Ruju. While not much of a fighter, she was highly recognized for her cold ambition and intense work ethic; no obstacle could hold her back for long, moral quandaries included. Pretty much everyone who knew her was stunned when she settled down at all, even if she got right back to work shortly after.

His father, however, was an Inquest debt collector-- but not just any Inquest debt collector. He was the type that high-ranking overseers sent in to cut off any further questions. Klixx shows up on your doorstep? You better hope you have a will and that you hid it somewhere very, very secure. The guy was known for his brutality, and more notably, for making his targets disappear without a trace. The Arcane Eye had tried many, MANY times to recruit him to their own team to no avail; they only gave up after he sent one of their 'messengers' back in a box, charred to a nearly unidentifiable crisp with a simple unsigned note attached. 'This cremation is a complimentary free sample. Next time it's coming with a bill.'

As far they were concerned, their progeny was meant to continue and extend their legacy; the pair formed a long-term contractual relationship specifically to benefit both of their own ambitions. Having a kid was just one facet of that. They expected Ruju to exceed expectations just as much as they did, and in very much the same ways. Instead they got a kid who struggled with focus and memory issues, couldn't sit still, hated lectures, frequently zoned out, didn't take notes well, and lacked any kind of identifiable ambition. He was bad at basically everything that asura society expected for success.

All that insecurity, self-hatred, projection, and so on that Ruju struggles with throughout his entire life? Yeah. That didn't exactly come out of nowhere. They made no mystery of their displeasure.

It was shortly before his college years that Ruju started really resenting them for it all though, and when they were eager to send him off even to the point of using their own status to add a bit of extra pressure? Ruju took it and ran. It got him out of that dingy little apartment cube and meant he didn't have to hear every night about how disappointing he was. They saw it as one last chance to redeem himself, he saw it as his easiest way out of a home he hated.

During those years they occasionally bailed him out of a Peacemaker cell, but Ruju knew it wasn't out of kindness; they just wanted to cover their own reputations, simple as that. And truth-be-told, part of him relished draining their bank account and embarrassing them by then. Petty and self-destructive as it was, he didn't really care how much of a scene he made because they'd absolutely hate it.

(Mind you, they were also trying to keep anyone from noticing and studying his magical abnormalities, but he didn't know that!)

After college he never hears from them again. They expected him to go into the Inquest like them, but he wanted no part of that. It's not until the Crucible of Eternity that he finds out about the studies being discreetly conducted on him while he was in Rata Sum-- and that his mother didn't survive the facility's security breach.

Ruju never really decided how to feel about that. In a way, her final act was the only reason he ever learned the truth, and whether he liked it or not... She'd still cared enough to keep his identity secret.

His father, though? Ruju has no idea, but hopes he stays missing.

He doesn't know what he'll do if they cross paths again.

5. What's their approach to romance? Do/did they have any partner? Are they more interested in relationships with a predetermined end date or are they looking for a stable long-term relationship? Is the option of having/adopting progeny on the table?

Saying Ruju's relationship with the concept of romance is messy would be a massive understatement. Truth is? It'd be a stretch to say he even HAS an approach to romance at all. The guy's charisma stat is somewhere in the negatives and it just keeps dropping.

That's not to say he hasn't had crushes though-- he certainly has! Ruju just never bothered to pursue them, either due to lack of confidence or just being such an absolute disaster that he fumbled it on sight and slunk away in shame. Or, better yet, he fumbled some BEFORE he even realized he had a crush, only noticing he liked them AFTER he's already spent like 2 years being an insufferable jerk. There's definitely been at least a few of those.

So, the fact this guy has never dated is probably not a surprise.

And after becoming the Commander? That adds a whole extra layer of complexity to the situation. While there's a part of him that appreciates people looking up to him for once, Ruju knows full well that someone who is only into him because of his famous hero shtick is going to be SORELY disappointed once they get to know him. He wants someone to like him for who he is, not who they think he is.

Given his many insecurities and low self-confidence, what he really needs is stability; someone that makes him feel safe and secure, but can still firmly grab and ground him if he's being unreasonable. Taming his fiery nature takes a patient and thoughtful hand.

All that in mind, the guy might put on a tough act but he's basically a porcupine made of butter. Even the SLIGHTEST amount of warmth and affection melts him into a puddle. He's the type who'd be trying very, very hard to make sure a partner is happy, and puts extra effort into figuring out what a partner likes so he can make sure they're happy. (He's also surprisingly cuddly, though he'll NEVER admit this) At his core, Ruju's love language has always been through action. As for future plans... he's very much a loyal to the end type of guy. A contract with a set end date would just remind him of his parents-- and he wants NO part of that similarity. He'd much rather go with the flow than formally predetermine anything-- and he ESPECIALLY wouldn't be interested in combining it with work in any capacity. If they have to part ways, they'll cross that bridge when they get there. Even then though he wouldn't necessarily hold a grudge though, probably still willing to be friends if they're also open to it.

The question of progeny is... Complicated. Prior to Aurene, there's no way he'd have felt like he could be a good parent-- and even after helping raise her, he still doesn't really feel like that was his ideal role. With his own messed up childhood he's very, very worried about not just being a bad influence, but letting his own upbringing influence him. Ruju isn't really confident that he'd be able to give a child the healthy environment they deserve, even if he wanted to.

If Ruju had a partner that he knew could help him learn as they go, though, he might agree to it... Tentatively. It'd be a really hard decision for him to commit to. But when push comes to shove, Ruju wouldn't actually be such a bad father; the guy has a lot more love in his heart than he gives himself credit for. He doesn't have any particular preference in mind between adoption or raising a child of their own. No matter the circumstances he'd love them just the same.

... And he'd almost certainly develop a reputation for being TOO supportive if anything. If nothing else, he'd never let them believe for one moment that he doesn't love 'em to bits. (Even if he embarrasses them a LOT in the process by being a total goof all the time)

[gumy-shark]

they invented fictional siblings with complicated and somewhat resentful relationships with each other so that i could project my own complex relationship with my sister onto them 👍

[the-eldritch-it-gay]

For the write a kiss prompts:

2. Goodnight for Majexatli x Karlach

59. For Sanrymic x Velzori

Goodnight — Majexatli /Karlach

Karlach should have been surprised to see a wolf curled up in her bed at the Elfsong, but the sight just made her smile. They looked rather cozy, she almost didn’t want to wake them. There wasn’t a point, though, even out of wildshape Majexatli’s hearing was too sensitive and it would be worse to sneak up on them. Even as Karlach tried to be silent as she set down her pack, she saw the wolf move, its eyes opening as it lifted his head. 

For as much as she hadn’t been surprised to see a wolf in her bed, she was somewhat surprised that she didn’t end up tackled to the ground. Not too long ago, she could remember accidentally waking Majexatli and seeing them reach for their dagger before their eyes even opened. Most everyone at camp had learned quickly to be cautious with waking Majexatli, lest they end up with teeth or a dagger to the throat. 

Yet now, here Karlach was, waking Majexatli only for them to simply yawn and blink at her sleepily.

“Sorry, baby, didn’t mean to wake you,” Karlach said, as she began to strip off her gear.

By the time she finished slipping into her nightclothes, the wolf on her bed was replaced with Majexatli, laying on their side, using their arm as a pillow. They were wearing the new clothes they had just gotten from the tailor. Wyll had insisted on the new clothes, something to replace the patchwork leather and rough fabric of the clothes they usually wore around camp. Their new shirt—half unbuttoned at the moment—almost perfectly matched their eyes, the fabric smooth and warm beneath Karlach’s fingers as she climbed into bed with them.

“I hope you don’t mind—” Majexatli started, but Karlach quickly cut them off.

“I could never be upset to find you in my bed,” Karlach smiled, wrapping an arm around them, “So long as you leave room for me, that is,”

“Always,” 

Majexatli’s eyes were already drifting closed again as they pressed their forehead to hers, but before they slipped back into sleep, they inched forward just enough to meet Karlach’s lips in a slow kiss. 

“Goodnight, Karlach,” Majexatli said, as they closed their eyes.

“Goodnight, baby,”

Out of love — Sanrymic/Velzori

This was really hard actually bcuz as of the latest session these bitches have been living together and undergone an evil gay apotheosis together and Velzori like swore an Oath of Devotion to Sanrymic and became a priest of the god of obsession bcuz of it. And these bitches STILL have never once talked about their feelings or admitted love for each other, they're still just like Damn We're Such Good Pals. Also, for context, you can read the typed up version of Sanrymic's dream sequence that happened in one of the sessions, which is referenced in this and this takes place after.

It was almost always a tavern where Sanrymic and Velzori would run into each other. Sometimes it was between adventures, when they were trying to relax before setting out again, sometimes it was during adventures, where they would have to sneak away from their party to get a few private moments together. It wasn’t unique to Velzori, most of Sanrymic’s flings were people they found in taverns. What was unique to Velzori, was the fact that it happened more than once. 

Sanrymic wasn’t sure how they kept running into each other, for a while they thought maybe it was merely coincidence (a lie, Sanrymic didn’t believe in coincidence, everything was fated, divinely predetermined). They didn’t complain, though, there wasn’t any reason to. They were friends (something like that). Sanrymic had been wandering for so long (they were just home, they’ve never left, they can remember the smell of food frying in the market, the colorful lanterns and paper designs strung up in the streets, the smell of the sea at the pier), maybe it was just good to have something consistent. 

Sanrymic’s heart fluttered as they saw her in the crowd of the tavern. It was the familiarity, the friendship, that made their mouth go dry and their mind fill with countless thoughts of her.

“Flint,” Velzori regarded them with a nod as she approached.

“Chaste,” Sanrymic nodded, unable to stop a faint smile from appearing on their face at the formality of her using their glint-chaser name. 

“It’s been a long time,”

Velzori settled onto the stool next to them at the bar.

“Has it been?”

Sanrymic’s smile disappeared for a moment. They swore they had seen her just the other day, her visage fresh in their mind their skin still tingled from the touch of her hands.

“Many months, I was almost starting to get worried about you,”

Months… Sanrymic furrowed their brow, staring off into the distance. They had just spoken with her, they could remember, not clearly but they could remember—

The sound of crashing waves. The tell-tale wind of a tsunami. Water filling their lungs.

“I’m sure I could say the same about you, should I buy you a drink?”

“I shouldn’t, I’m supposed to be leaving with my party in the morning,”

“Then perhaps there’s something you’d like besides a drink…?” 

Velzori hummed, “Hm, perhaps,”

Her eyes twinkled knowingly as Sanrymic stood and offered her their arm. 

They had only just stepped into the hallway to Sanrymic’s room above the tavern when they pushed Velzori up against the wall, kissing them desperately. Velzori’s hand tangled in their hair while her other hand slipped under their tunic. Velzori pulled their head back to break the kiss, panting as she caught her breath. 

“So impatient…” She clicked her tongue in faux disapproval, “What’s gotten into you, Sanrymic?”

Sanrymic opened their mouth to reply, but nothing came out. 

“This is not the sort of purgatory you want to be trapped in. If that is what you want, then... I suppose that is what we shall have. And I will be here with you and we will die over and over again together.”

Her voice still rang in their ears, they could still taste the saltwater on their tongue and feel the cold embrace of death.

The pain of Velzori tightening her grip in their hair pulled them to the present.

“It’s been a while, like you said,” Sanrymic said, forcing a playful grin.

Velzori chuckled, “Then let’s get reacquainted, yes?”

Sanrymic nodded, quickly pulling her down the hall towards their room.

[fogwitchoftheevermore]

i would love to hear about aro smajor actually 👀

AMAZING.

ok so the first thing i am always obligated to say is that i made a post about aro life series!smajor a bit ago that real life smajor found and told me, and i quote "this might be the most wrong take about any of [his] characters". this is the funniest thing that's ever happened to me and has only made me double down.

also it should be noted that i am on the aro spectrum, so some of my hcs about this are affected by my own experiences on this front. i am also ace, which is not true of my life series!scott headcannons (he is so very gay), so idk if that's gonna color my thoughts, but maybe keep it in mind?

so the thing is that, as scott said in that reply, all his characters are hopeless romantics. hence it takes life series!scott until around double life to figure out that he's aro, and hence flower husbands in third life. the thing about scott and flower husbands is that most of scott's care for jimmy comes around after jimmy dies. he's pre-grieving jimmy the entire series, he's making the widow's alliance, he is constantly a little bit exasperated with jimmy (even if it's fondly most of the time), he's telling grian "once we lose our husbands to the war, we can be free". he's kind of treating jimmy and his relationship with jimmy like it's a burden the entire time he has it. and i think that part of the reason he is so affected by jimmy's death when he didn't really show that he cared about him while he was alive (in this interpretation) is that a: he doesn't have to perform any romantic feelings for the guy anymore, he just has to feel the care he has for him and b: very quickly after jimmy dies, scott loses cleo too, his only other Real ally and friend on the server.

he looses both of the people he cares about in one fell swoop, but he directs the grief and anger he feels about both of them, at least outwardly, into anger about jimmy. he says he wants revenge because they killed his husband, because he feels like he SHOULD care about jimmy more than he cared about cleo, even though he doesn't, he cared for them equally.

and so then last life comes around. and scott has what he has with cleo and pearl. and he realizes "oh, ok, hold on, this is actually miles more fulfilling than what i had with jimmy." but the realization doesn't immediately go to "oh i'm aromantic", it starts as "well maybe i just wasn't compatible with jimmy". but then double life happens and he is not a fan of the soulmate concept, especially not when his soulmate is actively killing him so he runs off with cleo again, and even when he finds out that his soulmate is pearl, he has no interest in pursuing that relationship, even in a platonic way. and it's mostly because she was being reckless and not looking for him, but he talks about it with cleo and that's when the aromanticism properly clicks. and it just recontextualizes literally everything.

anyways scott and cleo's relationship throughout the life series is a qpp and mean gills are canonically a qpp. it's important to me that you know this.

(also scott obviously allos can have qpps but also. if you didn't want me to suggest your guy was a little aro at least. maybe you shouldn't have said that :3.)

[piedoesnotequalpi]

7 + 14 :)

(WIP Q&A)

Answering this for the juggling AU since I don't really have any other active WIPs currently

7. What is your favorite scene you've written so far?

For this chapter, I'd say the two opening scenes - I've mentioned before that the plot is supposed to very loosely mirror the actual plot of Newsies, so the strike/union/price change element enters the picture in this chapter. I imitated admin-speak a little too well, I like the way I adapted Crutchie's "let's just get our papes" line, and then there's a scene from Race's perspective that involves both Race being an idiot (bi actually stands for Being an Idiot, fun fact) and Jack and Davey being cute.

“Sorry this is your first semester,” Jack said awkwardly to David. “I hope you don’t try to transfer again.” David was quiet for a minute. Then he said, “University admin is scummy everywhere.” There was a scraping noise, and Race assumed David had just taken the other desk chair. “Besides, it’s been less than a month and I’m already more involved in–in clubs, and in campus politics–than I ever was at Middlebury.” “Then I’m glad we got you involved,” Jack said softly. David laughed. “Is that a good thing? Coming onto campus and immediately picking a fight with admin?” “It is in my book,” Jack said. “Besides, it’s not picking a fight. We’re constituents with a legitimate gripe.” It took Race far too much effort to not laugh at Jack’s phrasing. But David apparently didn’t have any reservations; he giggled, and Race couldn’t believe that Jack’s interpretation of normal conversation skills was actually working on David.

14. What have you been finding frustrating with writing this chapter/fic?

I'm glad you asked! I'm struggling with a lot! This list includes: wrangling the plot, making conversations feel less repetitive, and nailing down/developing character dynamics. (looking back at those first two scenes I mentioned above did make me feel more motivated and inspired because they're actually pretty good. Too bad I'm going on a work trip tomorrow 😐)